Minnesota!

[KlopKlop]

You are just learning about all the people who are internet experts. LOL! This and the Buckeye Thread are the only ones I come on from this site. I have had my fill of people trying to tell me about how to raise chickens when they have 3 and I have 300.

Can I suggest something about your brooder intentions. I know how much of a pain in the butt it can be to brooder a few hundred at a time, so I started making stacked brooders. I need to clean mine, but once I do, I can show you what I have. For the littlest chicks, I am using a 4 shelf, metal framed unit I bought at Home Depot, am putting sides and back on it, running a nipple water line and making it accessible from the front. I have to find the right heating unit. I was playing with the idea of making a coffer up the back and heating just from the back and using a fan to circulate, but not sure if that is going to work so well. I still love the idea, but accessability for cleaning in the back is the issue. Every year I come up with something a little better for brooding. My brooder house is a 10X12
I still use large totes for chicks right now and rotate to bigger ones or split them up as they grow, then they got into a smallish stacked brooder with two pens, then there are two larger pens that are their final stage of the brooder house that are 3'X6' with a hatch door on top. I lay vinyl, glueless flooring in everything for ease of cleaning and to protect the wood from damage from droppings and any wetness. My system isn't perfect by any means, but it has worked for me this far. I am trying to phase out the totes altogether though. They are handy if you are doing small scale, but for what I have been doing, not so efficient.
One of my projects this Summer still is to put a rail and the trim on the brooder house. We are going to build a little cat house too on the end closest to the viewer in the picture, since our barn cats love being on the deck and hanging around me there. Surprisingly, they have never killed a chick or any other chicken! Even though they were wild when they showed up! Now, they get a little kibble each day and hunt for the rest. If they continue to help with rodent control, I am happy to provide them with a little house.

If that is just your brooder, I would love to see your coop(s)! I agree with your recommendation to break them into smaller groups. We had almost 60 in one large brooder and had smothering issues. We have learned our lesson and will be changing up next time.

I look forward to seeing the inner workings.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Smothering/piling issues come from two things: overcrowding or insufficient heat. Last year I lost half my turkey poults and a few of my CRX chicks because they came in June. By that time, the brooder house was getting too hot to run a heat lamp, and I thought that it was warm enough for those little ones too when they came, it was about 80 in there even with all the windows and door open, but I was wrong.
Overcrowding is hard to really calculate SOMEtimes because one day they are find and the next you can find Deady Bettys in the corners.
The other thing I try to maintain is separating the bantams from the LF chicks from the start. If I only have 3 or 4 bantams, sometimes it isn't practical or possible to do, but when I have a large group of LF with the tiny ones, it always produces losses of the bantams.

 

[KlopKlop]

Smothering/piling issues come from two things: overcrowding or insufficient heat.  Last year I lost half my turkey poults and a few of my CRX chicks because they came in June.  By that time, the brooder house was getting too hot to run a heat lamp, and I thought that it was warm enough for those little ones too when they came, it was about 80 in there even with all the windows and door open, but I was wrong.

Overcrowding is hard to really calculate SOMEtimes because one day they are find and the next you can find Deady Bettys in the corners.

The other thing I try to maintain is separating the bantams from the LF chicks from the start.  If I only have 3 or 4 bantams, sometimes it isn't practical or possible to do, but when I have a large group of LF with the tiny ones, it always produces losses of the bantams.


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We were fighting drastic temp swings at night and having a hard time keeping a large enough area warm for all of them. The brooder as a whole was plenty big. I am thinking it should be easier to regulate temps in a few smaller areas than one very big one

 

[Rhetts]

Raphie-you mentioned earlier about having some birds you might be parting ways with. Can you tell us again what you have for turkeys as far as age/sex goes? Are they meat or heritage? Do you have guinea keets too? I might be interested. Thanks!

 

[holm25]

Minnie I love your brooder house!! I was thinkimg of building another noninsulated summer coop and using the 8x8 coop I have now as a brooder. I did set it up as a brooder last boght and have started using it. I put 14 chicks in there and lost the midget chick that never grew. I must say I haven't used a heat lamp since the temp was well over 80 degrees. I just put in the removable windows at night and close the coop and it stays plenty warm with the big birds in there. And then in the morning I open the coop and the week olds and big birds come out and stay out till night. Thks is the coop not near as pretty as yours but its over 50 years old and nothing is rotting or leaking and the outside has been redone so I won't complain. Not to mention I got it free from my grandpa who got it from the guy he bought his farm from and they both wanted me to have it because I would put it to good use.

 

[duluthralphie]

Minnie, I had forgotten the joys of swinging a pick axe in the silo to break up enough frozen silage to throw down. We had to go outside with every wheel barrel. Or the hay bales on the head, that was a regular occurrence here, My brother purposely tried to hi me with the bales as we were feeding. You would think after he got hit, he would know how much it hurt....

I severely limit the feed on my CX's. I also force them to free range at a fairly early age. I like to process at 13 weeks so I get giant birds. I dressed one out at over 12 pounds last batch and many over 10. Hens even go 8 or better. I know it is not the normal way to raise them, but those big birds are so delicious and juicy when roasted. The drumsticks and thighs are not bad size then either, at the 7-8 week range I find the drumsticks small. One thing with raising them that size, is you have to always be ready to butcher at a moments notice, If they start to die or get sluggish or sick. I think last batch I had 3 or 4 I took out early because they did not seem to have the vigor to go the distance. 5 of these will be kept over winter like I did Bert, or I will try to for breeding in the spring. It is just something I want to do ,I know it is cheaper to buy them than keep them all winter.

Hoover is in Rudd Iowa which is next door to Mason City on 218 going towards Waterloo.

Rhett, I have a few guineas I would part with. I have 2 in the living room that are a pain and I have eggs hatching on the 22nd. I figure I need to start with 30 this year to get 10 over the winter. They are living proof a weak mind makes the whole body suffer, and die.

I definitely have turkey to get rid of. I only have 3 BB they are for my freezer. I will only keep 6-8 over winter, I have blue slates, lavenders (self blue). and then I have Ethel and JJ's babies. they come in almost all colors.. JJ and Ethel are the birds someone on BYC said were lilacs, they are not, they are rusty slates. Lilacs breed true, JJ and Ethel do not. I have rusty slates, rusty slates with blue/black markings, bronze, red spotted (sort of ) babies black ones. I am not sure I would part with the bronze or black as I do not have many of them. I will pull out a couple of hens I like and a couple toms to winter. I am going to "eat" my self blue tom I used for breeding this year. He is too stupid to be allowed to live another year. He is constantly picking fights with Ed. Ed has spurs over an inch long. the tom has 1/4 inch spurs. I am getting tired of putting dressing and blukote on him. He starts the fights, Ed hits him once and he runs off, you would think he would learn.

 

[holm25]

Ralph that swlf blue is living proof u cant fix stupid.

 

[Minniechickmama]

We were fighting drastic temp swings at night and having a hard time keeping a large enough area warm for all of them. The brooder as a whole was plenty big. I am thinking it should be easier to regulate temps in a few smaller areas than one very big one

I completely get that. I have had a couple of times when I had to put a heat lamp on some because we were in the 40s and 50s one day, and then the next it is 75-80 and cooked a few before I could get out to shut the lamps off. I am planning a thermostat when I revamp my brooder house this fall.

 

[Mistahbue]

Howdy all

Ignorant chick question

I don't have a clue as to the ages of thes babies I have. a couple still have a lot of fluff on their butts while a few look like they've come through a time warp - they are all a mixture of fluff sticking straight out and feathers.

Anywhoo - they are all on chick crumble and I give them a mashed up boiled egg once or twice a week.

Can I start putting any grasses or grass seeds (from the yard) into the mix for them?

Just wondering.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Well, I have decided with the aid of my two kids here, I am going to sell off my Cochins. I love them, but I do have to reduce this year, and look at the list I had started (thinking I was cutting back), and still have too many on that list. I am actually going to look for some bantam Cochins though to take care of my fluffy balls of fun fix.
So, holm25 has dibs but I have a few adults ad about 20 juvies to get rid of this Summer. PM me if you are interested. I will need to attempt to sex the youngest ones.


I am also going to get out of the White Silkies. If anyone is interested in those, also PM me. I don't have a lot of them, but maybe 15 young ones. One is a cross beak pullet who seems to do just fine, but she is not for breeding, but could be a nice spoiled puffy head.